Speaking of An Unspoken Thing
by RocketRaccoon15
Summary: After almost losing Peter twice, Gamora decides that it's time to tell him how she feels. (Starmora Week 2017 - Day 7: Unspoken)


She was relieved Peter was alright. In fact, she was more than relieved-grateful, even. She almost skinned Rocket alive, thinking that Peter was dead. It was the second time that day. The first, she had hope that Peter had made it out of the Lazer Drill that had exploded. The second, she wasn't as hopeful. Ego's whole planet-form had exploded and he didn't have his helmet, nor an aero-rig to escape with.

When Kraglin had announced that the Quadrant was detecting a sign of life near the floating remains of Ego's planet, her heart started to flutter. It was that moment when she started to have hope again. However, her heart broke when she ran to the cargo hold only to see Peter crying hysterically while clinging onto a lifeless Yondu for dear life.

Only an hour had passed since the blue Centaurian's funeral. Nebula had left in a pod, in hopes of stopping Thanos. Gamora had hope for her sister, too-hope that one day, maybe not that exact day, they would be able to reconcile with one another. But for that moment, she could only watch as her sister's pod slowly drifted away from the Quadrant.

Long after Nebula's pod disappeared from view, Gamora was still staring out the window in the direction of her sister. It wasn't until almost a hundred Ravenger ships started to block her view that she stopped staring out the window.

Curious as to what was going on, she joined the rest of the group in the cockpit. "It's a Ravenger funeral." Peter explained as the green woman stood beside him. Gamora jumped a little when Groot hopped off of his shoulder to hers. The tiny tree's black eyes gazed into hers like a child would to his mother when she held him to her chest.

The Ravenger ships started blowing off beautiful fireworks of various, bright colors. Gamora's eyes quickly shifted back down to Groot as he started reaching for Drax. It was such a heartfelt sight to see.

However, she couldn't focus her attention back to the fireworks; her eyes shifted immediately to Peter. They started to well up when she started to think about everything that happened that day. Even though she was confused earlier on why he insisted that they had an 'unspoken thing', something that was clearly spoken of, she couldn't help but to admit that they didn't really talk about it. After almost losing Peter _twice_ in the same day, she knew that if they didn't talk about it soon, it may never be _spoken_ of.

So, she stood there next to him, analyzing every single detail of his face from the stiff hairs of the stubble on his chin to his gentle and loving hazel eyes. It wasn't long until he noticed her in his peripheral vision. He turned to her with the gentlest of all smiles. "What?"

"It's just-" She slightly shook her head, unable to think of how she was going to word what she was about to say. She gazed into his eyes lovingly and started to talk again, "Some _unspoken thing_."

Peter nodded in agreement with an _'I-told-you-so'_ look upon his face. To be honest, she wasn't going to roll her eyes at his cockiness. _In fact_ , she couldn't have been happier to see that side of him, even if it wasn't as playful as it usually was.

All of the anxiety she was feeling was lifted once she felt his arm slowly snake around her to shoulder. Feeling his gentle touch let her know that he wasn't dead and she wasn't dreaming. He was real. He was _alive_. She took a deep breath before wrapping an arm around his back, laying her head lightly on his shoulder.

* * *

Hours after the funeral ended, Kraglin insisted that Peter should have the captain's quarters, despite how many times he declined the offer. He finally gave up on arguing with Yondu's second-in-command and towards the room with Gamora's fingers intertwined with his. He took a deep breath before entering.

It was just how he remembered it. Although he was rarely allowed to even walk near Yondu's quarters, there were those few times he ended up having to go in there. Yondu always threatened to eat him if he ever dared to enter, but didn't really seem to mind the company once he was inside.

The room was grungy and filled with dirt and grime. He could've sworn he saw Gamora cringe at the filth from the corner of his eye. A dusty, metallic dresser was connected to the wall beside the door. It was wide and had three rows of two drawers. A dirty mirror full of fingerprints sat above it. A queen-sized bed laid in the center of the room against the back wall. The platform frame and headboard were both made from scraps of rusted metal. Despite how unkempt the rest of the room was, the cream-colored bedding was fairly clean and almost new-looking. Peter couldn't tell if it was because he liked getting laid or if he just liked to sleep on a nice bed at night.

He jumped when he heard Kraglin speak behind him, "Uh...don't know if ya know dis, but uh...he wuz thinkin' bout namin' you the new cap'n once he's retire...least til' ya left. He seemed purdy upset bout that. He wuz always checkin' up on ya and evr'yone thought it wuz cuz he wuz goin' soft, but I always knew it'd was cuz he cared bout you." Peter and Gamora both turned to him as he spoke. "That's why I wanted ya to have Cap'n's quarters so badly. You deserve it, Pe-Cap'n." He left awkwardly, leaving the two alone.

The door closed behind him and Peter watched as Gamora wandered around the room. She stopped in front of the dresser, picking up one of Yondu's only oddities that was left after his funeral. She thumbed it and didn't tense when she felt Peter wrap his arms around her from behind. He propped his chin up on her shoulder and looked down at the bobble-head in her hands. It reminded him of an animal back from Earth-a black fennec fox, if they had three eyes.

"He bought that not too long after he abducted me." Peter muttered in her hair. She placed it back down on the dresser and looked at her fingers. They were covered in dirt and soot. She felt him unhook his arms from her abdomen and gently grab her hands. Still resting his chin on her shoulder, he rubbed the grime off her hands. "He must've recovered it from when his ship crashed on Xandar."

Peter broke out of their embrace, turned out the lights and grabbed her hands, pulling her towards the bed. Sleeping in one other's arms every night wasn't anything new and they had become accustomed to it. In fact, it felt wrong to sleep without the other.

Since they didn't have any clothes to wear to bed, they took off their boots and climbed under the covers. They were both surprised as to how comfortable the mattress was. Peter thought of it as lying on a marshmallow. After adjusting to the pleasantness of the mattress, the two got into their usual sleeping position; Peter laying on his back with Gamora curled into his side. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling closer to him, and started to thumb her arm. She nuzzled into his chest-something that was becoming more and more frequent as time went by.

"So, this...' _some unspoken thing_ ' you were talking about earlier-" He felt Gamora chuckle a little into his chest and looked down at her, only to realize that she was already looking up at him. Peter gazed into her eyes, waiting for her to say something-anything.

"I was so confused about what you meant by an 'unspoken thing'. I figured that since Mantis had already announced it...it was already spoken of. I didn't think about the fact that we never really talked about it."

"Well, do you want to talk about it?"

"Of course, I do-"

"No, I know you do. I meant do you want to talk about it, _now_?" He chuckled a little as Gamora's lips twitched upwards.

"With everything that happened today, I don't know if I'm going to fall asleep anytime soon. I guess it would only make sense."

Peter shifted to his side so he could get a better look at Gamora. She was smiling and it was that genuine, soft smile that she only used around Peter and Groot. The half-Terran took a deep breath before speaking, "I never wanted to get emotionally attached to anyone. I was always afraid of getting hurt or hurting others. Then, here comes this 'Diane'-" The woman scoffed and playfully rolled her eyes. "She's beautiful and selfless and such a badass." He paused when she started to quietly chuckle. "I knew from the moment I saw her outside of the Broker's shop that I was screwed. Even when I tried to be Star-Lord around her, she always managed to bring out Peter Quill, the scrawny kid from Earth who always got picked on." He thought back to when they were on Knowhere to sell the orb. "I didn't realize how much I actually cared for her until we were on Knowhere. She was the first person I ever really talked to about my mom. Then, the meeting with the Collector went by so fast and before I knew it, she was floating in space. I told her when I saved her that I didn't know what came over me-why I couldn't let her die-but I guess I was lying to not only her, but myself."

Gamora, fascinated at how he was telling her how he felt through a story, couldn't take her eyes off of his. "What came over you?"

He gazed into her eyes for a moment before speaking, "I was falling in love with her. Not only because of how beautiful she was, but because of her personality. Even though she lived most of her life in Hell, she always had a heart of gold. Even though I have friends now, she was-is-the only person I can always depend on."

Gamora was speechless. She had never heard Peter say anything so heartfelt about her before. He normally wasn't one to be so straightforward with what he said, always using pop culture references to explain what he was feeling. He started blinking at her like he thought he broke her. She wanted to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth. Instead, she kissed him-on the cheek. Her lips remained there for a while as he lifted his hand to her head and started playing with her hair. A few tears fell onto Peter's shirt.

Quickly wiping her eyes, Gamora laid back down. "I'm sorry. I'm just-not used to this."

Peter lifted his hand to cup her cheek. He used his thumb to wipe away the last few tears from her eyes. "Hey, don't be. It's been a hell of a day." The woman nodded, slightly embarrassed. "Your turn. Tell me how _amazing_ I am." He teased, trying to lighten the mood. Gamora smacked him upside the head. "Yup, I deserved that." He felt content when a small chuckle escaped Gamora's lips.

She sighed and shook her head slightly. "When I first met you, I told you that you had the bearing of a man of honor. At first, I didn't mean it at all, but now-I mean every single word. Peter, you've showed me that I don't have to view myself as a daughter of Thanos anymore. At first, I didn't want to care for others, too. I didn't want anyone to care for me. Every second that goes by, I fear that Thanos will murder everyone I care about. Just as he did to my parents. There have been times where I've thought it'd be best if I left, but I couldn't-mostly, because of you." She muttered the last part and if it wasn't for how silent it was in the room, Peter would've never heard it. "And Mantis-she touched me earlier and for the first time in years, I felt fear. You almost died, twice. In those moments, I felt like a young girl again, seeing my parents get murdered. I think Mantis did something to me. It's almost as if I can't control what I'm feeling."

"Or maybe it's because you're starting to let people in." Peter smiled at her softly, before returning to lay on his back. He gestured for her to come into his embrace. She laid her head on his chest and took a deep breath. Without a second thought, Peter pressed a kiss to the top of her head and started rubbing her arm. "Damn, I've fallen truly, madly, and deeply in love with you."

"You're so melodramatic." She chuckled a little before closing her eyes. "But I feel the same." Peter could've sworn he heard her whisper one last thing before falling into a deep sleep: "I love you, too."


End file.
